Auction News

November '07

Feature Article from Hemmings Classic Car

Tri-Five
Speaking of post-war blue chips at family-owned sales, Keith McCormick's Palm Springs Auction in California on November 16-18 will be presenting a perennial favorite, a V-8 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible. We saw this car sell for $80,000 at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale 2005, and with no driving time since, we assume it's in the same #1 condition it was then. But it will be tough to do better on a car that sold on Friday night at B-J; still, $80,000 is probably correct for a Bel Air with Powerglide automatic, Power Pac, air conditioning, power brakes and all the rest.
McCormick's is also expanding, adding a Friday night sale and room for 500 cars; with his low 5 percent commission on both ends, we can think of worse places to be in November than Palm Springs. Contact: www.classic-carauction.com.
De Soto-Rama
We hoped to bring this to you earlier, but we wanted confirmation from VanDerBrink auctions that it was for real. It is, and it's magnificent--one man's obsession with De Soto, to be scattered to the cold, north wind of Spencer, Iowa, on October 20.
No, 50-odd cars in an auction isn't anything earthshaking, but when 48 of them are De Sotos, with at least one from every year of production (1928/1929 through 1961), that makes us sit up and pay attention. The majority of the cars from the Binder estate are low-mileage #3/#4 originals or older restorations. Chris Binder was already collecting De Sotos by the time 1961 rolled around, and was even the original owner of the '61 hardtop in the collection.
The beneficiary of the Binder estate will be a local church, although De Soto lovers, too, will benefit for years to come. Contact: www.vanderbrinkauctions.com.
New Digs
After 26 years in a tent, the Branson Auction in Missouri on October 19 and 20 will be moving downtown, to the brand new Branson Convention Center on the town's historic waterfront. The doors of the permanent facility should open for the first time right around the time you read this, and the Cox family is contemplating expanding their schedule, as well.
Among the cars you'll find is a 1953 Buick Skylark. Skylarks are rapidly becoming blue chip post-war collectibles, with values for even #3 cars hovering around $75,000; a top example is now always over $100,000. Contact: www.bransonauction.com.

This article originally appeared in the November, 2007 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.